Midnight Snacks
by ekc293
Summary: "Rick leaned in and kissed her tenderly, letting himself linger against her. She tasted like peanut butter and… was that chocolate?" future!fic, established Caskett relationship. Minor spoilers for 04x13 and references to 03x21


This started out all cute and stuff in my head, and then it turned into this.  
>Anyway, this was half inspired by a line at the end of An Embarrassment of Bitches, and half just because I always feel the need to eat things that are terrible for me in the middle of the night. Especially when I'm writing.<p>

This is a future!fic, with an established Caskett relationship and Alexis off at school and Martha living on her own.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Castle. At this point in time, I don't even own a jar of Nutella.

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><p>The first thing Rick noticed when he woke up was that it was far too early to be awake if the lack of light coming in through the windows was any indication. A quick glance at the clock confirmed that it was nearing one o'clock in the morning. The next thing Rick realized as he rolled over to face the opposite side of the bed was that he was alone. He reached out a hand and touched the empty space beside him. He could still feel her warmth vaguely in the sheets, but it was clear that she'd been gone for quite some time. The light was off in the master bathroom and the door to their room was open. It was Friday… well, Saturday now, and she always stayed over on nights when she didn't have to go into work the next morning. Hell, she stayed over most nights when she did have to work the next morning. Where did she go?<p>

Standing up, he also realized that the loft was quite chilly without any clothes on.

Huh, he'd have to turn up the heat.

Quickly grabbing a pair of flannel pajama pants from his dresser, he threw them on, yawning, as he made his way out past his study to look for her. It didn't take him long to find her.

She was sitting on the counter in the kitchen, dressed in what looked like her knee-high socks from the day before (she claimed they were to keep her legs warm at the crime scene that morning), his button-up shirt that she had helped take off of him just a few hours earlier, and nothing else. One of her long legs was dangling over the edge of the counter, swinging back and forth almost absentmindedly, the other had its foot pressed against the cabinet below the counter she was sitting on. Her hair tumbled down wildly past her shoulders in loose waves, her curls from the day having finally fallen. He watched as she lifted what looked like a spoon up towards her mouth.

"Why aren't you in bed?" Rick asked, rubbing his eyes.

Kate paused, but didn't startle like he knew he would have. She looked at him and continued to put the spoon in her mouth, eating whatever was on it before shrugging her shoulders.

"I was hungry."

He laughed lightly, aware that there was no one else in the house to wake up. He shook his head at her slightly, smiling the entire time.

"I tried to get you to eat when you got home," he said.

Kate gave him a wicked smile.

"But I was a different kind of _hungry_ then."

Rick ran his fingers through hair, exhaling loudly. He _had_ tried to get her to eat something when she got home. Rick had skipped going to the precinct that morning, choosing instead to try to get a jump on his next book when inspiration suddenly struck in the middle of the night. And he was making good time. He had written, edited, and sent 4 chapters to Black Pawn throughout the day and outlined the next two chapters.

When Kate let herself into the loft at nearly 9:30, Rick immediately saved his work and left his office to meet her at the front door. She was just taking off her gloves, trying numbly to undo the buttons of her coat. It had been the coldest day of the year and Rick knew that her day had started just after 5 in the morning when she got the call from dispatch. Rick reached her quickly and moved to stand in front of her, undoing the buttons of her jacket for her as he kissed her in greeting. Once she was out of her coat and Rick had hung it up for her, he noticed she was still dressed in her work clothes. Realizing that she had just left work, he led her into his office where they put her gun and badge into his safe. As soon as they were locked away, Rick began to lead her back out of the study towards the kitchen so he could make her something to eat, because he was sure he was the only person who ever dared to force her away from a case long enough to get some food into her system, but she had grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her roughly, yanking him off balance and immediately melding her lips to his. She deepened the kiss as soon as he got his footing.

Rick had broken away from her and told her she needed to eat something. Kate had started kissing her way down his neck and told him she missed him. He tried to pull away from her because she needed to take care of herself, but her fingers hooked around the belt loops of his jeans and pulled his hips into hers and he couldn't remember what he was supposed to be doing because she had that effect on him. Then she whispered that she needed him and Rick was powerless to deny her anything.

Shaking his head slightly to clear his thoughts, he began walking over towards her.

Kate immediately welcomed him into her space, wrapping a leg up around his hip and pulling him flush against her. Placing his hands on the counter around her hips, Rick leaned in and nuzzled his nose in the hollow under her ear.

"You know," he said, his voice slightly deeper than he wanted it to be, "if you're _still_ hungry, I would be more than happy to take care of you again."

Kate threw back her head and laughed.

"Down boy," she said gently, the smile clear in her voice even though he couldn't see it, "if you let me eat, maybe I'll reward you later."

He kissed the spot on her neck once, twice, three times before pulling away to see her face.

With her free hand, Kate ran her fingers through his hair, tweaking his ear between her fingertips, her fingernails scratching his head gently.

"Why are you awake?"

Rick shrugged, leaning into her touch.

"The bed was getting cold. I was starting to miss you."

Kate smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

Rick leaned in and kissed her tenderly, letting himself linger against her. She tasted like peanut butter and… was that chocolate?

"Mm," he hummed as he pulled away from her, "What are you eating?"

She waved the spoon she was holding in her hands in front of his face again, a smile on her lips.

"Nutella and peanut butter," she hummed.

He paused for a moment. That explained the chocolate.

"Did you make a sandwich?" He asked.

She shook her head.

"Nope, just Nutella and peanut butter right out of the jar."

He looked beside her and saw the containers open on her right. Then he looked back at her.

"That's disgusting," he said, his brow furrowing. Together and straight out of the jar? That's way too rich, even for him and his sweet tooth.

Kate huffed in protest, "Excuse you! This is the _ultimate_ midnight snack."

Rick looked back at her, voicing his thoughts from before, "But together and straight out of the jar? With nothing else there to balance it all out?"

Kate rolled her eyes, "Rick, you keep whipped cream in the fridge specifically so you can eat it right out of the can."

Knowing that she was right, he chose to ignore her.

"Peanut butter _and_ Nutella? That can't be very good for you."

Kate pursed her lips and looked at him, "I think midnight snacks as a rule can't be good for you. I've never met anyone who wakes up in the middle of the night craving carrots."

"That can't be healthy for you," Rick insisted.

Kate raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you trying to tell me I'm fat?" Her tone was teasing, but he knew better than to go along with _that_ line of jokes.

"No!" Rick said immediately, shaking his head vehemently, "No, not at all! You're perfect, and I love you just the way you are." He leaned in and kissed her quickly. "It's just… isn't that a little… rich?"

Kate gave him a dry look, "This coming from the man who puts chocolate and marshmallows in his omelets."

Rick held up a finger, "Hey now, the smorelet is a culinary masterpiece. It will catch on one day."

Kate shook her head, but the makings of a smile were playing around the corners of her lips. She leaned back away from him and turned to the side. Rick watched as Kate took her spoon and dipped it into the jar of peanut butter, getting a small amount of it on the tip before dipping the same spoon in the jar of Nutella. The hand that was in his hair slid down to the nape of his neck and started teasing the skin it found there. Kate then took the spoon out of the jar and held it in front of Rick's face.

"Try it," she said, still smiling.

He pursed his lips, trying to bite back a laugh, "Not gonna happen."

"Oh come on," she laughed, "I tried a smorelet for you."

"Kate. _Culinary. Masterpiece._"

"Please?" Kate said, her eyes earnest.

He nearly caved. It wasn't that he was so against trying it. Now, he was just teasing her. But he couldn't cave. Instead, he shook his head, breaking eye contact, "Nope."

"Please?"

"No."

"For me, Rick?"

"No, Kate."

"Please?"

"You can beg all you want, but it will not help."

"I bet Alex Conrad would do it for me."

Rick's mouth dropped open, looking at her with indignation. Kate however, took the opportunity and thrust the spoon into his open mouth. His lips closed around the spoon as a reflex, and he looked at her. She just smirked at him and began sliding the utensil out past his closed lips.

With a mouth full of chocolate and peanut butter, he looked at her, trying to make himself look at hurt and upset as possible.

"That was so wrong," he mumbled.

Kate's smirk grew into a full-blown smile, bringing the spoon towards her own mouth. She stuck her tongue out and placed her tongue flat against the metal, licking it clean.

Rick swallowed down the creamy combination of peanut butter and chocolate hazelnut spread and gaped at her.

"Do you like it?" She said, the tip of her spoon resting on her smiling lower lip.

Rick reached up and grabbed the spoon from between her fingers. He placed it on the counter next to the two containers, and then brought both of his hands up to cup her face between them before crashing his lips down onto hers. She responded almost immediately. The fingers on the hand that was still resting on his neck curled around it, her now free hand coming up to rest lightly on his chest.

She tilted her head slightly when he ran his tongue over her lips, and he wasted no time in kissing her deeply, her mouth an intoxicating blend of chocolate and peanut butter and that taste that was distinctly _her_ that it made his head spin. He let one of his hands drift down the front of her shirt, never stopping its descent even when she arched up into his touch. His hand reached her thigh and he rubbed it down towards her knee before moving back up under the hem of the oxford she was wearing, his fingers coming to rest on the bare skin of her hip. She groaned at his touch and his fingers pressed a little harder against her skin there. And then he pulled his lips away from hers, opening his eyes slowly.

She looked back at him, her eyes darkening before his eyes, her chest heaving.

"Is that a yes?"

If he wasn't so out of breath he'd probably laugh.

"What?"

"My midnight snack," she said, exhaling loudly, "does that mean you liked it?"

Rick leaned in and kissed her quickly, pulling her bottom lip between his teeth.

"Hm…" he said, nibbling on her lower lip, "It's not bad..."

He moved his other hand to her hips and pulled her over the edge of the counter against him. She immediately wrapped her legs tightly around his waist and her arms around his neck to keep herself from falling. Ignoring the open jars on the countertop he began to walk them back towards their bedroom, his lips at her ear.

"…but I can think of a much better midnight snack."

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><p>See what happens?<br>Anyway, I'm iffy on how this one turned out, but I'd love to hear what you think about it.

**Love it? Hate it? Let me know what you think.**


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